5 Signings to save our summer...

 

Crystal Palace are notorious for their lack of big money transfer windows. Free agents and loans normally dominate the in-comings with Benteke, Sakho and Eze being the exceptions of large expenditure. Erdal Rakip and Jaroslaw Jach have been the type of player we have been come to expect in previous windows. That is not to say that the likes of Vicente Guaita, Jack Butland and Gary Cahill haven't been an exceptional bit of business from the club. But with the contracts of several senior members drawing to a close, and the squad age creeping up to fatal levels, it is clear that serious investment is needed to bring the squad age down and to provide the team with creativity, energy and fight. In this post, I will be exploring just some of the names we have been linked with, who I personally would like to see come through the doors at Selhurst Park and the impact they could have on the team for the coming season.

The Budget. The budget has been a very controversial and widely speculated talking point among Crystal Palace fans including myself. Some news outlets speculating that Parish and the yanks have discovered One-Eyed Willy's lost fortune, allowing us to write cheques amounting to £80 million. In my opinion, this is nonsense. However, I still believe that a healthy budget of around £55 million will be available to the next Crystal Palace manager. In addition to this, there is no reason why we can't take great advantage in the loan market this summer with Billy Gilmour already heading to Norwich (an unbelievable bit of business). With this £55 million I will try and provide 4/5 players I think would be great fit for us and give a rough estimate of their prices based on the current market.

Conor Gallagher:

Conor Gallagher (21) is a player that we have been linked with extensively over the last few windows. The Chelsea youngster spent last season on loan at relegated West Brom, registering 2 goals and 2 assists in the 30 games he played. Gallagher is versatile and can play anywhere across the midfield, he prefers to opt for a more attacking role in the team where he can display his phenomenal passing ability, whilst several time last season, he was required to play deeper and help the team out with defensive duties. Winning Chelsea youth player of the year in 2018/19 and impressing heavily at his loan spell at Charlton, Gallagher has proven his unbelievable potential in the midfield position and looks ready for regular premier league football. This however earned him a new year 5 year deal at Chelsea which was awarded to him in 2020. Inevitably this will increase Gallagher's value for any potential buyers. However, with the wealth of quality and youth Chelsea have at their disposal, it seems unlikely Gallagher will break through into he squad as a regular starter for the champions of Europe. A point worth noting out however, is the the recent loan of Billy Gilmour to Norwich as I have previously mentioned. This could throw any potential loan deal into doubt as Chelsea may want to cash in this summer on one of their great youth prospects in the midfield, which will enable them to free up funds for their supposed transfer of Erling Haaland. My take on this transfer is that young, versatile players are always welcome at Selhurst Park. His passing ability and Macca-like work rate has been praised by fans in the past, and I think Gallagher would be an incredible signing for us. I believe we should push Chelsea hard for a loan agreement despite what I have previously stated about the blues being hesitant to grant the loan, so we have test drive when it comes to seeing how the England U21 star fares in the red and blue colors. My estimate based on the market would be a figure in the region of £15/18m should be enough for Chelsea to part ways with this man, should we decide to make an offer on termination of his loan.

Marc Guehi:

Keeping the trend going for young Chelsea players, the next name on the list is that of Marc Guehi. Guehi, The Ivorian born England youth player enjoyed an extremely successful loan spell at Swansea City last season, which enabled them to reach the play-off final. Guehi demonstrated abilities that is rarely seen in center halves nowadays. He exhibits great recovery speed which also enables him to play at full back should the wing backs decide to push up the field. The young player also has proved to be comfortable on the ball during his time in the championship, displaying a great passing range when called upon to spread play. In addition to his championship experience, Marc Guehi scored in the final of the England U17 World Cup which enabled his side to lift the trophy. This was even sweeter for Guehi, as beating Spain in the final secured revenge for losing to the them in the U17 European Championship final, where Guehi had been captain. Whilst little more can be written about the England youth player, I think it is worth pointing out that Marc is demonstrating his undeniable potential at such a young age. With international captain's experience already secured, the young player's aggressive tackling, confidence on the ball, and most importantly, his pace, are all things that this palace defense is crying out for. I believe under the close eye of veteran Gary Cahill, Marc Guehi could be a phenomenal piece of business from the club, and we should do everything we can do buy him. Considering I have already explained that Conor Gallagher would be better served as a loan deal, it leaves us no choice but to make this deal a permanent one. I believe a fair offer would range from the £16m mark up to a maximum of £20m.

Noni Madueke:

Now this one is a signing folks. Noni Madueke (19) currently plays for PSV in the Eredevise. Madeueke, born in London, spent much of his childhood at Tottenham's youth set up, and is one that certainly slipped through the net. Madueke is a player that rejected stardom early on, in order to seek regular first team football, a trait which is extremely rare in today's game. This was shown when the youngster turned down an offer from Manchester United in order to better his game with regular football at PSV. Since, Madueke has evolved into an extremely hot prospect, and is known for his talent by many of Europe's top clubs. By all accounts, and I do mean everybody that has watched Madueke's performances, Noni Madeuke is a joy to watch, always managing to terrorize defenses and provide a wealth of creativity. This is something Palace will crave this season with Ebere Eze unfortunately picking up his devastating Achilles injury towards the back end of the last campaign. In addition to Eze's injury, Andros Townsend has yet to sign a new contract, and even if a deal can be negotiated to keep the experienced winger at Selhurst Park, the 29 year old's stamina and fitness levels will understandably fall with time. The lack of creativity in Palace's team last season was clear for everyone to see, with Eze being the only man to make something out of nothing. The signing of Madueke will bring the pace, flair and aggressive style of attacking football we witnessed with Zaha and Bolasie a few years ago. As well as his outrageous skills and talent, Madueke has demonstrated a great deal of versatility which enables him to play as a left midfielder, center forward, central attacking midfielder and his preferred position at right winger. In Noni Madueke, we would be signing one of the most watched young talents in Europe for the last few seasons. Adding goals and assist to his game, Madueke managed 7 goals, and 4 assists in 24 matches in his last campaign, many of these being sub appearances. The youngster has also played for England at all youth levels, impressing every time he has been called up to represent his country. Similar to my point about Guehi, should Zaha stay, I believe Madueke could thrive under Wilf's tutoring, if the two were able to form some sort of partnership, it would provide enough creativity until the arrival of Ebere Eze who is expected to return to regular football in early new year. Zaha, Eze and Madueke would strike genuine fear among any team in the country and I believe would fire us several spaces up the league as a result. As I have mentioned, Madueke has been closely watched by several big clubs recently and has been speculated to join Borussia Dortmund to replace the outgoing Sancho. In addition to Dortmund, it was reported yesterday that Palace and Leeds have inquired about his availability. If a return a London and regular first team football can attract Noni Madueke to Selhusrt Park, it would be one of the clubs best signings to date. In this market I would value Madueke at £17m. In order to secure his signature, I would go up to £20m, but no higher than this as the player is still extremely young. Should you find a spare few minutes after reading this post. I strongly recommend watching some of Maduekes highlights on YouTube. Whilst I am very aware that highlights can be flattering, Madueke's magic is undeniably mesmerizing. 

Ainsley Maitland-Niles:

Before starting this section, I think it would be bad of me not to point out that AMN was involved in a car accident yesterday afternoon. Whilst he has luckily been unharmed, I just wanted to wish him the very best and send some of my thoughts his way.

Ainsley Maitland-Niles (AMN as I will refer to him) is a signing that gets overlooked frequently. The 23yr old has been at his boyhood club Arsenal since the age of six, only leaving for retrospective loan spells at Ipswich and West Brom. Maitland-Niles again, another London lad albeit from the other side of the river, can play in a variety of different positions. Right wing back, left wing back, left back, right back and central midfielder as well as his preferred position at winger. As previously stated, having young versatile players such as the likes of AMN is essential for squad depth and whilst the financial outlay can be steep, several positions are covered with the purchase of one player. AMN has been described as aggressive, pacey and energetic, attributes that in a defensive role (where I believe he would be best played) will give us a different approach to that of this season. Since the departure of Aaron Wan-Bissaka in 2019, Palace's right back situation has been left unclaimed. With Joel Ward and Nathaniel Clyne both picking up injuries the role tended to alternate between the two since October when Clyne arrived. Whilst both players have been relatively solid at the back, neither has been able to express a real talent in going forwards and causing more problems at the other end of the pitch. Whilst also being credited for his one on one defending, AMN has been effective at getting forward and providing attacking supporting runs for his team mates. Due to his roles at winger and central midfielder, Maitland-Niles has developed a calm presence on the ball, a smooth passing ability and a skill to read and escape tight or difficult situations under pressure. I believe AMN would be a great signing as he can operate anywhere along the right-hand side of the pitch and give our defense and midfield an interlinking player who can provide a burst of energy on the ball. His addition would be the TLC our right-hand side has lacked for years. The addition of Guehi (who can shift to fullback) would also allow Maitland-Niles a free licence to move up the field with the ball, as he would often like to do. AMN will not be as expensive as most fans will think. The 23yr old has been out of favor at Arsenal for sometime now with Hector Bellerin being the preferred option at RB for Mikel Arteta. Paired with a dispute about AMN preferred playing style, the two factors mean AMN is surely low in the pecking order at the emirates, and with Arsenal looking to free up some funds for their summer plans, I think the club should move in on this. I would value AMN at around £15 million, however, I would start bidding in the region of £12 million.

Adam Armstrong:

Adam Armstrong (24) is my wildcard here. An unbelievable player with an unbelievable goal scoring record. Whilst Ivan Toney stole the headlines last season, Adam Armstrong lurked in his shadow turning up a very respected goal tally at the end of the season. Ending with 29 goals and 5 assists.....yes you read that correctly, 29 goals in 42 appearances, Adam Armstrong is a born goalscorer. 28 of these goals were scored in the championship, proving the Englishman has a talent for scoring goals against a variety of good teams and opponents on a rigorous schedule of championship fixtures. Armstrong scored a variety of goals last season including a mixture of goals with both feet, and headers. With his great spacial awareness and pace to run in behind, Armstrong looks more than ready to make a step up in his playing career, whether that be away from Blackburn Rovers to move to a bigger championship club pushing for promotion, or more likely a bottom-half Premier League club like ourselves. With Armstrong's pace, quick feet and great footballing brain, the Blackburn attacker has proven he can play on both wings as well as his preferred center forward role. Again, this versatility across the front line would be vital in our push to improve our league standing for next season, and with the likely departure of Connor Wickham and the poor return of goals for Jordan Ayew this season, I believe an expert poacher such as Armstrong would challenge Mateta and Benteke for the striker's position at Selhurt next season. With Madueke, Zaha and one of the other strikers alongside him, I am of the firm belief that Adam Armstrong would provide a flurry of goals and hit the ground running. Despite Armstrong's heroics, Blackburn finished 15th, and surely a player of Armstrong's ability would relish the step up. During these troubling financial times, Blackburn would have been hit equally as hard as the other championship sides who did not manage to get promoted, it is for this reason that I think a bid in the region of £15.5 million would secure the serial goalscorer, and overall I cannot see a way in which the Englishman wouldn't get off to a good start at Selhusrt Park.

In conclusion, I have listed 5 realistic transfer targets that I believe Palace have the funds and pull factor to attract this summer. The trend is very young, versatile players that bring down the squad age and cover multiple different positions to reduce risk of being short on personnel. The energy, aggression and pace that all of these players bring with them will bring a breath of fresh air when implemented with the squad and with star youth prospects such as Omilabu, Rak Sakyi and Hannam deserving first team chances, I believe there is a real chance for the squad to gel under the guidance and leadership of some of our more senior players. It should be worth noting, that I am aware there are loan spaces available, and should the club find the opportunity to make any of these targets possible on loan, I would be all for it. Excluding the loan fee, this window would accumulate roughly £63 million worth of expenditure, however I feel all of you reading this will agree that our squad is in need of some serious investment. These signings are also all for the future, and should they choose to stay could all comfortably be playing for us in 5 years time, with some of them only just entering the prime stages of their career. 

I really hope you enjoyed this post if you have made it this far. Let me know what you think of the signings. My aim is to take into account my readers comments and implement them for future posts. I will also be looking to bring out another post later tonight or tomorrow morning, so let me know what you would like me to talk about. On a more personal level, for all of you that read my last post on Patrick Vieira, thank you, from the very bottom of my heart I cannot thank you enough for reading, you all made my week last night. Please like this, share it, and let me know what your thoughts are guys. Don't forget to message me @CPFC_Curt on Twitter.

Thanks for reading,

Curt